Binding-head for grain-binders



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S. D. LOGKB. Binding Head for Grain Bind-ers.. No.24L869.

Patented May 24, I881.

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Patented May 24, I88l.

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SYLVANUS D. LOUKE, OF HOOSIOK FALLS, NEW YORK.

BINDING-HEAD FOR GRAIN-BINDERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. -%41,869, dated May 24:, 1881. Application filed April 9, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SYLVANUS D. LOGKE, of Hoosick Falls, in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Binding-Heads for Automatic Binders, of which the following is a specification. 1

This invention relates to improvements in devices heretofore patented to me for holding, cutting, and twisting together the ends of wire bands placed around grain-sheaves by an automatic binder; and itconsis'ts of, first, an elastic holder-plate to hold the end of the wire, composed of an elastic plate faced at one point with a plate of hardened steel, whereby the required elasticity and durability are obtained, incombination with supporting-table, (for the f holder-plate,) raised above the cutting-table to allow the cutter and holder (or cutter and jammer to work as a cutter n the cuttin g-ta,

ble and as a holder underneath the holder-plate;

second, cast projections or detentsrisin g above the cutting-table, against which each arm of the cutter and holder may strike to limit the movements of the latter; third, the sheet-metal piece continuing the curve of the outer portion of the main shield (or shell) over the cutter and holder, and serving to shield the latter from entanglement with the grain and to strip the wire off the hook part of the same; fourth, roofing the inner face of the shell or main shield over the entering path or slot for the wire between the shell and head-plate, to prevent the 'grain from enterifig and choking the path or entangling the twisting, the holding, or the cutting mechanism ;'-,fifijh, the ledger-plate reenforce to form a guide or shoulder for the wire and a stop for the compressor-foot; sixth, the shoulder on the forward part of the head to cause the grain to pass clear of the abutment which arrests the compressor.

That others may fully understand my invention, I will particularly describe it, having reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein I Figure 1 is a perspective view of the top and one side of thehead. in operative condition.

1 Fig. 2 is a similar perspective 'viewof the hottom and the other side of the head. Fig. 3 is a side elevationof the operative parts of said head. Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 are details detached andassembled. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the binding-head at about the completion of its first quarter-circuit. Fig. 9 is a plan of the binding-head. Fig. 10 is a transverse section on line through center of pinion.

The general operation and connected parts of my device need not differ from those heretofore shown and described in patents granted to me, and reference to these patents is hereby made for such general explanation.

The head A is a hollow shell of iron, pointed at one end to enter and pass through the grain upon the platform, and at the other end it is adapted to be bolted fast to the end of the revolvin g binder-arm A. After passing through the loose grain, thereby carrying the end of the binding-wire around the gavel, the head A traverses a curved rack-box beneath the platform, whereby the operative mechanism is set in operation, the old end is released, the new end-jammed-or griped, the wire cut, and the two liberated ends are twisted together in such quicksuccession as to be practically simultaneous. These operative parts are mounted upon a block or head, B, which is provided with a faced side, which is fitted to a corresponding inner surface of shell A, and rigidly secured there by the screws a a, Fig. 2. The head B projects from the open side of the shell A sufficiently far to enable the bindingwire to enter to thetwister G, and so that the point d of the head B is separate from the plane of the opening into the hollow shelljust sufficient to permit the binding-wire to enter. The twistingpiniou (J is pivoted to the upper side of the head B, and it is covered by a bridge, U, which guides the wire between the leaves of the said pinion. The lower side of the head B is planed off flat, and forms the cutting-table, upon which the cutter D vibrates. The cutter D turns upon'a pivot, f, screwed firmly in said head, and kept from becoming loose in its socket by the wire key '0. The cutting-table has a hardenedsteel plate, 9, set in said table, and a notch, h, penetrates said table and plate obliquely, so that the wire is led into said notch and severed against the edge of said hardened plate. The cutting-edge i is radial, or thereabout, to the center of pivot f.

LII

Theholder-plate E is an elastic plate, rigidly secured at one end to an elevated table, F, formed on the head B,and projects backward over the cutter, as shown in Fig. 6, and the relation in position between said holder-plate, the cutter, and the notch It is such that when the cutter advances upon the standing wire to sever it it is thereby pushed into the notch h and jammed between the holder-plate E and the jammer-snrface K before the cutting contact takes place.

As a matter of economy in manufacture, the general thickness of the cutter Duis considerably less than at the point k, where the jamming takes place, and the pivot-bearing and other points where it is desirable that the thickness should be uniform. The elevation 7:, therefore, has no reference to the operation of jamming the wire, but only to economy in inauufacture.

"he movements of the cutter are produced by lugs in the rack-box, properly placed to engage with the extended ends m a of the cutter, whereby it is forced alternately in one direction and then in the other, as fully described in patents heretofore granted to me.

The head B is provided with lugs 0 which act as stops to arrest the cutter at each end of its movement. The steps heretofore used are liable to become loose under the constant jarring of the cutter in its movements.

The holder-plate E, as will be readily perceived, is subjected to great wear in jamming the wire, and in order to combine elasticity, to compensate slight variations in the thickness of the wire, with the requisite hardness to enable it to resist wear, it is necessary to face said plate with a plate of hardened steel at the point where this wear will he encountered. The reenforce plate is shown at e, Figs. 1, 3, 7. It is necessary to make the plate E elastic because of the practical impossibility'of procuring in the market wire of uniform size. The variation will sometimes amount to one or two numbers, and the manufacturers frequently send out wire wrongly numbered, and sometimes two sizes will be found upon the same spool. These variations of one or two nmnbers are so slight as to be imperceptible to the ordinary eye, and it is therefore necessary to provide the machine with a self-adjusting holder. The holder-plate E has a lateral projection, 0', which extends over the axis of the twisting-pinion. This pro jection supports the wire and prevents itfrom pressing upon the cutter so as to impede its movements, and also aids in withdrawing the old end. The action of these parts is shown in Figs. 3 and 6.

8 represents the standing part of the wire, extending from the spool around the roller 20, thence around the sheaf, and its end t is griped between the cutter and holder E, as shown. The point of time represented in the positions shown in Figs. 3 and 6 is just as the wire has been carried completely around the sheaf and at the instant before the cutting and twisting is to commence. The movement of the bindin g-head has caused the wire to pass over the projection r and then between the leaves of the pinion G on the rear side. The continued revolution has caused the head to approach the standing parts of the wire and caused it (the wire) to enter the head behind the point d on the front side. The vibrating gatherer or discharger d, Fig. 8, has pushed the part it of the wire over the shoulder c, and the compressorl (shown in dotted lines in Fig.3) has advanced and pushed the part 8 of the wire up close to said shoulder 0, so that those parts of the wire which meet around the bundle have been brought together around the bundle at a. point about in line with the axis of the twister C. At the moment represented the lug'm encounters itslug in the rack-box, and the cutter is thereby thrown back or opened and the old end of t is liberated. The advance of head A in its path, couutin g from the moment represented in Fig. 3, and during the time occupied by the opening of the cutter, has carried it forward upon the standing wire sand caused the latter to enter between the leaves ofthe pinion on the frontside. As the cutteris thrown back the pinion U encounters the first tooth of its rack, and it is thereby rotated far enough to pull the old end ofthe wire part t out from under the holderplate E. This requires only a part of arevolution, and whileit is taking place the parts of the wire is carried fully into the notch It in front of the cutter and between the leaves of the pinion. At the instant when the said old end of the wire becomes liberated, as above described, the end a of the cutter encounters its lug in the rack-box, and the cutter is thrown forward, jamming the wire 8 for a new hold and severing the band already around the sheaf. The rotation of the pinion O, which, as above described, had already commenced, is continued until the free ends of the wire are wound about each other a suflicient number of times to make the twisted union secure, and then the appropriate motions of the proper parts discharge the bound bundle from the machine, and the above-described operations are successivel y repeated for each sheaf bound. The part yof the head B projects forward opposite to the table F, and serves to support and guide the wire 8 as it enters the head and approaches the cutter and notch 71, and also serves as a stop or stripper to force the wire off of the top of the cutter into the depression in the same in frontof the hook part i as the cutteris thrown back or opened.

The pinion G is constructed as shown in Fig. 10--that is to say, it turns upon a hollow or perforated hub, j, upon the plate B, the outer surface of which is made cylindric, so that as it revolves its bearin g is upon the rigid surface of said hub, and not upon its center pin, g, which passes down through the center of said hub and into or upon the cutting-table, where it is rigidly secured by riveting or in any other proper method. The conical head to acts as a guide for the ends of the wire which are being twisted, to keep them in place. It has been found that any angular projection above the upper surface of the twisting-pinion causes a liability to catch the wire and either break or disturb the twist, and that this liability is obviated by the conical head w.

In making the shellAit is necessary to leave its hollow part open on two sides for the insertion of the tools necessary to finish such parts of its interior as require to be made flatto wit, the part exposed to the'face b of the head Band it is equally necessary that the opening not occupied by the head B--to wit, that in the bottom surface-should be closed. I therefore cover said opening with a piece, so, of thin metal, preferably cut from sheet-iron or sheet-steel of proper thickness, and secure the same by rivets 01' screws at each end to said head.

The cutting effect of wire when drawn under tension over a surface is surprising, and it is therefore necessary to re-enforce every point exposed to this action with steel made as hard as tempering can make it. The point about the shell A most exposed to the efl'ectis the shoulder 0, over which the wire draws, as shown and described. I therefore rivet fast to the shell A at this point a hardened-steel ledgerplate, 2.

The com pressor-arm l approaches the binding-head from the front and below the binding-wire, compressing the gavel, so that the band-wire shall not bear any of the compressin g strain. As the compressor L approaches the head its office is to push the wire beforeit until it is in a position over the twister, as shown, so that the twisting may effect equally the two parts of the twist. I make the square shoulder at 2, against which the said compressor rests, as shown in Fig. 3. As the head A strikes through the stream of grain the open space between the point (I and the shell A admits the wire freely, and if it extended back in a straightline itwould be very apt to admit straw or other objectionable matter as'well. To obviate this effect I have extended the upper part of the shell A laterally at the part b, so as to roof over the guide a, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, and prevent the entranceof any straw or other obstructing matter at any place back of the point d. The upper surface of the shell A is carried upward to a point, p, high enough to push aside the straw as the head strikes through the stream of grain and give a clear passage to the shoulder a. As thebinding-head commences its movement-say at the moment when the wire is severed-it assumes, in about one-fourth of its circuit, the position shown in Fig.8, and the vibrating arm d, with itsforked end, is in waiting to catch the wire t when it shall have advanced far enough, and push it forward over the shoulder c.

The wire has been liable to catch on therear portion of the forked end of said vibrating arm, and I have therefore put upon the shell A a laterally-projectin g flange, (3', so that the wire will be guided past the heel, or at one side of the forked end or foot of said arm d, and slip down in front of the same over the shoulder g.

Havingdescribed my invention, what Iclaim as new lS 1. In the bindinghead of an automatic binder, a holder-plate, E, composed of two pieces of sheet or plate steel, one having spring temper and the other hardened, and the two rigidly secured together, combined with an elevated table, F, to which said holder is attached, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. Combined with-the cutter and holder D and the elastic holder-plate E, the elevated table F, erected upon the head B, as a seat whereupon to secure said elastic holder-plate, as set forth.

3. The table or head B, provided with the lugs 0 p, integral with said head, combined with the vibrating cutter D, as set forth.

4. Combined with the shell A and the cutting and holding device, the sheet metal bridge-piece or shield 00, to cover the cutter and holder and prevent the entanglement of straw therewith.

5. Combined with the cutting and twisting devices mounted on plate B, the shell A, with the lateral extension or roof b, to cover the opening between said shell and plate B, as set forth.

6. Combined with the shell A and the cutting and twisting devices, the rigidly attach ed re-enforce ledger-plate z, with the shoulder 0, as set forth.

7. The shell A and its twisting and cutting devices, and the shoulder c, to arrest the compressor, combined with the upward-projectin g 

